You Rise With the Moon, I Rise With the Sun
by liron-aria
Summary: Collection of drabbles for Zutara Month over on Tumblr. Ranging from fluff to angst to AU and everything in between, one month of Zuko and Katara in every incarnation and every life.
1. Hidden

A/N: This is my first published foray into the A:TLA fandom, and my second at writing anything resembling romance. Hopefully, I don't do too badly!

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated characters. Zara and Telon are my own invention, as is the idea behind this story.

With that said, please, sit back and enjoy!

* * *

Zuko hissed as the drapes shifted and a familiar woman stepped beside him. "Katara!"

"Shh!" Katara hissed back, "You'll give us away!"

"This is _my_ hiding spot! Find your own!"

Katara leveled him an unimpressed look and crossed her arms. "There's plenty of room for the both of us."

Zuko scowled, about to make a reply, when he heard footsteps nearby. He stiffened, pressing himself back against the wall and clapped a hand over Katara's mouth, forcing her back as well. Katara drummed her fingers against the wall as the footsteps passed, contemplating licking Zuko's hand.

As if reading her mind, Zuko snatched his hand away, the corners of his lips turning down as he attempted to look dignified.

Katara stifled a giggle.

"What?" Zuko muttered, an embarrassed flush creeping up his neck.

Katara linked her arm with his and leaned against him. "Oh, Zuko… It's hide-and-seek with your five-year-old son and daughter, not a night raid. You don't have to take it so seriously."

Fire Lord Zuko, tall and proud and wise, firm and fair ruler of the Fire Nation, frowned slightly at his wife. "Zara and Telon take it seriously. I should, too."

"Zuko. We're hiding behind tapestries outside the Midsummer Hall while our children run around this wing of the palace looking for us. There's pretty much nothing serious about this."

The expression that crossed Zuko's face warned Katara that what followed would probably merit addition to the every-growing List of Sucky Things From Zuko's Childhood That Need To Be Rectified.

Zuko looked away.

Katara was having none of it. "Oh, no you don't. What is it?"

"It's nothing. It's stupid."

"I am your wife, Zuko, I don't _care._ Tell me," the waterbender urged.

Zuko sighed. "I just… I don't want them growing up thinking I didn't give them my all. That I thought they were… unimportant, or that I didn't love them -"

"Zuko!" Katara reached up to cup her husband's face in her hands. "Zuko, they would never think that about you."

"You don't know that," Zuko insisted stubbornly, "It's not like my father was a great role model. What if I mess up?"

"Zara and Telon love you, Zuko," Katara replied patiently, her blue gaze boring into him, "They _adore_ you, and they know you love them. Playing with them isn't about proving anything, it's about having fun, laughing, and _enjoying_ yourselves. Didn't you ever play hide-and-seek with Ursa?"

Zuko shook his head slightly, his lips twisting down. "If she did, I don't remember it. Even when she did play with me, she was always very graceful and dignified, not the -"

"Uncultured peasant type?" Katara finished wryly.

" - Hide-and-seek type," Zuko replied, his brow furrowing. "Who said that? Have the nobles been-"

Katara stepped back, waving dismissively, "It's nothing I can't handle, my Lord."

Her voice was arch, her posture bold and commanding. She was every inch a worthy Fire Lady, and Zuko couldn't understand how some of the nobles at court couldn't see it.

"I'm sure you'll set them straight, my Lady," he replied with a faint smile.

Before Katara could reply, the tapestry was yanked away and a wave of cold water splashed over them amidst cries of "We found you! We found you!"

"Oh no!" Katara said swooning dramatically, "We've been found! Zuko, save us!"

"What -" Zuko blinked rapidly as Katara fell into his grasp, one arm flung over her eyes. "Katara, what-"

Zara and Telon, the little miscreants, giggled at their father's comical expression, a wriggly ball of water forming under Telon's palm.

Katara peeked from under her arm and flicked her fingers, splashing the water from their clothes back onto the children.

"_Eee!_ Mommy!"

Katara laughed, springing from Zuko's arms, water gathering at her fingertips. "Mommy's gonna get you!"

Zara and Telon shrieked with laughter, bolting behind their father's legs. "Daddy, save us!"

Zuko spluttered as he caught Katara's wave full in the face. "Katara!"

The water bender gathered more water in front of her, a wicked expression on her face, her bright eyes dancing with mischief.

"Uh-oh," Zara said with a gulp.

Zuko reached down to clasped his children's hands. "I think there's only one thing for it, don't you?"

Zara and Telon nodded quickly.

"Run!"

* * *

A/N: Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Please, leave a review!


	2. Sleep

A/N: And now for something different, because fluff is hard to write for me. Tissue warning.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated characters. Zara and Telon are my own invention, as is the idea behind this story.

With that said, please, sit back and enjoy!

* * *

Kiya cries in her sleep.

It's been a month, now, since -

Since -

Zuko can't even think it.

Kiya cries in her sleep, and Zuko doesn't sleep at all. Or cry, but that's another matter.

It's been a month since -

He still expects -

He didn't know it was possible to hurt this much.

If someone had told his fifteen-year-old self, exiled and shamed and feeling phantom burns on his face, that one day a waterbender would make him feel like molten daggers were being plunged into his heart, like every breath was a crime, like _his world had ended_… He would have told them they knew nothing of real pain and banished them belowdeck.

If someone had told his twenty-year-old self, crowned and proud and loved, that one day his wife would - that one day his children would -

Kiya cries in her sleep, and Zuko sits at her bedside, wondering how they are meant to go on.

"Mommy…" Kiya whimpers, curling in on herself, her tears staining her pillow.

Grief sits in Zuko's throat like a razor-edged stone, the kind Azula used to throw at him when he wanted to play with the turtleducks. He remembers one of them slicing his forehead once, how much it had hurt, and how much he had bled.

He wonders if Katara felt it hurt when the rocks crashed down on her. He wonders if Zara and Telon watched their mother die trying to protect them, if they suffocated, or if they died quickly.

He hopes they died quickly. Agni have mercy, he hopes they didn't feel anything at all, that death was as soft and easy as falling asleep for them. But Agni _has_ no mercy, if he did, Katara would still be at his side, Zara and Telon would be sleeping in the next room, and Kiya wouldn't be crying.

"Daddy… come back…"

The whisper slices through Zuko like an ice shard. One month, and he's been so caught up in his grief that he hasn't reached out to the one person he has left, the one person who needs him the most. He's doing the very thing he swore he wouldn't, the very thing he was always so afraid he _would._

_"If you keep fearing yourself, it'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy, Zuko. Your children love you. I love you. Trust in that. Trust that we won't let you become Ozai."_

He can hear Katara's words in his ears as if she's standing beside him, that warm, serious, passionate expression in her eyes. She knew him better than he knew himself, forgave him when he didn't deserve to be forgiven, matched the storm within him with her own, tempering him, grounding him.

The moon breaks out from behind the clouds, sending silver slight streaming through the window and across Kya's bed.

Maybe Katara is with him, after all. What must she think of him now?

Zuko sits on Kiya's bed gingerly and pulls her head onto his lap, brushing her hair away from her forehead. She shifts slightly, and he murmurs, "I'm here, Kiya. I'm so sorry…"

_"Apologies only hold worth as long as there are ears to hear them_," Katara would say, and he will spend a long time apologizing to Kiya for this.

The words of Katara's favorite lullaby come mind, bubbling out of his throat unbidden. "Sleep, my child, and peace attend thee, all through the night…"

Kiya's breathing slows, and Zuko wonders if she can hear Katara's voice under his own like he can. He cards his fingers through his daughter's hair, continuing to sing softly. His voice isn't as raw as he feels and he thinks maybe it's because Katara's with him, giving him strength.

She was always so much stronger than him.

"While the moon her watch… is keeping…" Zuko's voice cracks on the second verse, and a tear rolls down his face. He remembers the nights he cried in Katara's arms, her gentle hands stroking his hair, her gentle words healing him. Where is his healer now?

Moonlight streams into the room, and between one tear and the next, between one verse and the next, Zuko sleeps.

* * *

A/N: The song Zuko is singing is "Ar Hyd y Nos," a Welsh folksong with English lyrics written by Sir Harold Boulton in 1884. It references God and angels in one (unmentioned) line, but pretend that's been changed to reflect Water Tribe mythology. Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Please, leave a review!


	3. Confession

A/N: Tissue warning. This chapter earns that T rating. This is the flip side to the previous chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any associated characters. Zara, Telon, and Kiya are my own invention, as is the idea behind this story.

With that said, please, sit back and enjoy!

* * *

_Come dance with us!_ La says.

_I cannot,_ Katara replies, _I have a confession to make._

Yue looks at her, gentle and distant. Is she still Yue? Do people call her Tui? Do their people know that Tui died and that it is now Yue and La, not Tui and La, or has Yue _become_ Tui, not just her replacement?

_Come dance with us, Katara._

_I cannot. I have a confession to make. I killed my children._

Yue and La stare at her. _Tell us._

It was a cave-in, Katara remembers. They were supposed to be on vacation; she and the twins had gone on ahead, while Zuko stayed behind at the Capital until Kiya got over her cold. Zara and Telon, ten years old and full of their mother's adventurous spirit, had begged and pleaded to be allowed to go exploring. There was a cave system nearby, full of nooks and crannies and hidey-holes. Even Katara had found herself curious and excited to explore, imagining wandering the caverns hand-in-hand like young lovers.

It was supposed to be safe.

They had no enemies in the nearby village - in fact, it was a challenge to get away from the well-wishers and citizens yearning for a glimpse of their Royal Family. A local baker had plied them with buns and treats for their outing - _No, my Lady, I insist, your children enjoy them and their smiles bring joy to us all_ - and a local guide had assured them the caves were safe and well explored already. _Our children play here frequently, my Lady, I'm sure the twins will have a great time!_

It wasn't safe.

The earthquake had come out of nowhere. One minute she had been laughing and telling Zara to stop teasing her brother, and the next -

_I killed my children,_ Katara says, four words to end a story she doesn't want to remember.

_Tell us._

_Tell us so you can come dance._

The Water Tribes have many legends about the Moon and Ocean Spirits, telling of their wrath and their joy and their creation of the world. While other nations' spirits blaze and grow and run, their spirits _dance_, as rivers and streams do the world over. Yugoda once told her that Tui favored benders, who pushed and pulled at the water from afar as the Moon did the tides, and La favored non-benders, who moved through the oceans with their bodies.

_Who favors the murderers?_ Katara wonders.

Katara remembers her shield of ice shattering under the onslaught of rock, the stone hard and unyielding as she tried to turn it into mud. She remembers pain, and blood, hot and sticky as it covered her side. She remembers Zara's screams and Telon's tears and _Mama I can't feel my legs Mom I can't see What happened Mommy help _and _Zara, no!_ as the Fire Princess tried to burn their way out.

Katara remembers Zara's flame sputtering out and her breathing going shallow as there was so much less air left. She remembers pushing away rock and crawling to her children while wishing Zuko was there, that he would pick her up as effortlessly has he did when he took her to bed after she asleep working.

Katara remembers _I'm scared, Mommy_ and _Shh, my darling, Mommy's here, everything's going to be fine._ They were the Fire Nation's Royal Family, precious to the hearts of the people. Someone would know, someone would come. Zuko would come; he wouldn't rest until they were safe in his arms again. This was not the end for them.

Katara remembers screaming herself hoarse, calling for help. She remembers trying to bend what little water she had to ease Telon's pain and heal Zara's cuts. If it had just been herself, she would have bent blood and sweat and tears against the rock until _something gave_, but with two children depending on her for healing, she couldn't do more than wait.

Katara remembers _I'm sleepy, Mommy_ and seeing her mother standing over them and realizing, yes, this was the end. There was no way out, and they were going to suffocate to death in this tiny nightmare of a tomb.

_I placed my hands on my children's chests,_ Katara says,_ and sang to them as I stopped their hearts._

She had closed her eyes after that, leaning back against the rock and pretending she was leaning against Zuko's broad chest, that they were all safe in their rooms in the palace, that Zara and Telon and Kiya were piled on the huge bed around them, fast asleep as Zuko and Katara watched over them. She had closed her eyes, pretending she was drawing on Zuko's strength, blazing brightly in the night.

When she opened her eyes, La was standing in front of her, hand outstretched, demanding, _Come dance with us!_

Yue and La watch her and she remains still, awaiting judgement. Yue takes her hand, and perhaps there is truth to the idea that the Moon favors the waterbenders after all. _There is no end to the sacrifices a mother will make for her children, Katara._

_You sang us to sleep, Mom._

Katara's heart freezes in her chest. Is this her punishment?

Telon bounds up to her, hand-in-hand with Zara, his blue eyes shining. _You sang us to sleep, and now it doesn't hurt anymore!_

Zara grins at her, no malice in the golden eyes she shares with her father, and she tugs Telon forward to hug Katara tightly. _Mama, come dance with us._

Katara thinks she might be crying as she squeezes Yue's hand tightly and wraps her other arm around the twins.

_Mama, don't cry!_ Zara insists, _It's so nice here. You'll love it._

Zara latches onto Yue's free hand as Telon grabs onto La. The Ocean Spirit turns to her, holding out his hand again. _Come dance with us!_

Katara slips her hand into his and starts to dance.

* * *

A/N: How bad was it? I was aiming for an ethereal tone, and it may have just come out as me being high. Thoughts? Comments? Criticisms? Please, leave a review!


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